Bitcoin mining leader MARA Holdings has made headlines with a monumental $1.1 billion Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 11,774 BTC at an average price of $96,000 each. This acquisition, announced via an X post on Dec. 10, pushes MARA’s total Bitcoin holdings to 40,435 BTC, valued at $3.92 billion at current market prices.

This bold move follows MARA’s issuance of a zero-coupon convertible note last month, demonstrating the company’s aggressive strategy to expand its Bitcoin reserves. MARA reported a staggering 47.6% BTC yield in 2024, using its unique performance metric to measure Bitcoin holdings against fully diluted shares.

MARA’s strategy, inspired by MicroStrategy, involves retaining all mined Bitcoin and leveraging innovative capital market instruments. This approach is part of the company’s new treasury policy introduced in July.

On the operational front, MARA shattered industry records by achieving a hashrate of 50 exahashes per second (EH/s), a first for any public Bitcoin miner. The milestone reflects a significant increase from its Q3 hashrate of 36.9 EH/s, with over 13 EH/s added in just months. CEO Fred Thiel celebrated the achievement, teasing future expansions with plans to deploy more miners.

Despite these breakthroughs, MARA’s stock faced turbulence, closing 4.4% lower at $22.81 on Dec. 10. While shares rose slightly in after-hours trading, they remain down 0.55% year-to-date. This marks a stark contrast to MARA’s 586% surge during the 2023 market rebound.

Bitcoin prices, meanwhile, are experiencing volatility, trading at $97,090—down 6.6% from its record high of $104,000 on Dec. 5.

MARA’s relentless growth underscores its dominance in the Bitcoin mining sector, leaving investors and competitors eager to see what’s next.